LA TEACHER SHORTAGE - And State Education Officials in Louisiana are warning lawmakers that there’s a shortage of teachers for K through 12 schools. Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed told the House Education Committee during a hearing late last week that the Louisiana teacher shortage has reached an emergency level.
“This is a crisis for us, we need more teachers,” Reed said. “What does the future hold if a student has amazing teachers throughout their educational journey and what does it hold if they do not?”
According to the state department of education, there are about 2,500 certified teacher vacancies across the state affecting some 700,000 K-12 students in Louisiana Public Schools. In an effort to address the teacher shortage, the committee approved a bill to create the Geaux Teach Fund aimed at recruiting and retaining teachers, no state funding has yet to be designated. But lawmakers say funding would be determined at a later date.
